Written Answers Tuesday 9 March 2010

Scottish Executive

Alcohol Misuse

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many acute occupied bed days in hospitals in NHS Tayside were directly connected with alcohol-related conditions in the last year for which information is available.

Shona Robison: Information on the number of acute occupied bed days which are directly attributable to alcohol-related conditions is not held centrally.

  Information on acute occupied bed days is recorded on the SMR01 dataset. SMR01 has space for up to six diagnosis codes to be recorded, a main diagnosis and up to five secondary diagnoses. Alcohol-related problems will be recorded as either a main or a secondary diagnosis, so it is not possible to identify the cases where alcohol was directly attributed to the length of the admission.

  Table 1 shows the total length of stay of patients treated in acute hospitals in NHS Tayside for alcohol-related conditions, recorded in any diagnosis position, 2008-09; the most recent year for which information is available. Due to the way alcohol-related conditions are recorded, it is not possible to determine whether the reason for admission is directly attributable to alcohol. Therefore this figure may be an overestimate.

  Table 1: Total Length of Stay (Bed Days) of Patients Treated in General Acute Hospitals1,2 in NHS Tayside3 for Alcohol-Related Conditions4,5,6: 2008-09P

  

 
2008-09


NHS Tayside
14,075



  PProvisional.

  Notes:

  1. Excludes mental illness hospitals, psychiatric units and maternity hospitals.

  2. Figures in this table relate only to those individuals who are treated as inpatients or day cases in an acute hospital. They do not include individuals managed as outpatients.

  3. Note that these figures include residents from other health boards that were treated in Tayside hospitals but do not include Tayside residents treated in other health boards.

  4. Discharges where alcohol-related diagnosis is recorded as primary or secondary reasons for admission to hospital.

  5. Diseases recorded using the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD10).

  - Alcohol-related: F10, K70, X45, X65, Y15, Y90, Y91, E24.4, E51.2, G31.2, G62.1, G72.1, I42.6, K29.2, K86.0, O35.4, P04.3, Q86.0, T51.0, T51.1, T51.9, Y57.3, R78.0, Z50.2, Z71.4, Z72.1. These codes were defined in a recent in-depth review of ISD’s core alcohol related code set. Further information about the review and resulting consultation process is available at:

  http://www.alcoholinformation.isdscotland.org/alcohol_misuse/3986.html.

  6. Caution is necessary when interpreting these figures. The recording of alcohol-related problems may vary from hospital to hospital.

Central Heating

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive on what date its central heating boiler scrappage scheme will (a) open for applications and (b) make its first awards.

Iain Smith (North East Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce the details of its boiler scrappage scheme.

Jim Mather: In his Budget Bill speech of 3 February 2010, John Swinney announced £2 million in 2010-11 for a Scottish boiler scrappage scheme. This will support the forthcoming Energy Efficiency Action Plan for Scotland, which will be published in late spring.

  Exact details of the scheme, including launch date, delivery mechanism, level of incentive, and number of households the scheme will support are now being developed and will be announced in due course.

  The Scottish Government is already helping householders upgrade to a more energy efficient boiler through the £2 million Energy Saving Scotland Home Loans pathfinder initiative and through the £60 million Energy Assistance Package, aimed at tackling the causes of fuel poverty.

Crime

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-23670 by Kenny MacAskill on 18 May 2009, whether it has information on how many (a) crimes and (b) violent crimes were committed in the Lothian and Borders Police Force area in 2008-09 and, if not, when this information will be available.

Kenny MacAskill: Information on the number of (a) crimes and (b) violent crimes, recorded by the police in the Lothian and Borders police force area in 2008-09 is given in table 4a of the statistical bulletin Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2008-09 which can be obtained at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/09/28155153/0.

  The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) collects information from victims of crime regardless of whether they reported the incident to the police and therefore provides an estimate of victimisation which is complementary to that collected by police recorded figures.

  The SCJS can provide an estimate of the number of victims of (a) crimes and (b) violent crimes by police force area. Estimates for Lothian and Borders police force area calculated from the 2008-09 SCJS are given in Table 104 of Volume 4 of the SCJS data tables at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/Datasets/SCJSVol4pfacja.

Dentistry

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged (a) under five, (b) five to 18 and (c) over 18 had teeth extracted in the (i) NHS general, (ii) hospital and (iii) community dental service setting in 2008-09.

Shona Robison: Centrally held information is available for (i) NHS General Dental Services (GDS) and (ii) the Hospital Dental Service. Information is not centrally available for the Community Dental Service.

  Table 1 shows, by NHS board, the number of patients who had teeth extracted in the GDS setting in 2008-09.

  Table 2 shows, by NHS board, the number of patients who had a tooth extraction procedure carried out in the Hospital Dental Service setting in 2008-09.

  Table 1. Number of Patients who had Teeth Extracted in the NHS General Dental Services Setting in 2008-09

  

 NHS Board
Patient Age


0 - 4 Years
5 - 18 Years
Over 18


Scotland
582
56,034
237,087


Ayrshire and Arran
50
4,843
20,262


Borders
10
926
4,652


Dumfries and Galloway
10
1,428
6,201


Fife
39
3,328
15,720


Forth Valley
33
2,997
13,186


Grampian
27
4,465
15,723


Greater Glasgow and Clyde
190
16,097
63,934


Highland
38
2,742
10,653


Lanarkshire
111
7,141
28,850


Lothian
54
7,677
36,430


Orkney
-
133
646


Shetland
2
238
917


Tayside
18
3,858
18,404


Western Isles
-
161
1,509



  Source: MIDAS (Management Information and Dental Accounting System)

  Notes:

  1. This data relates to dental treatment carried out under NHS General Dental Service arrangements and excludes the Community Dental Service, Hospital Dental Service and private dental treatment.

  2. The data above relates to the number of individual patients who had teeth extracted, not the number of teeth extracted.

  3. Extractions (for children in particular) will include those required for orthodontic diagnosis rather than those due to decay. It is not possible to distinguish between orthodontic and non-orthodontic extractions.

  4. Data accuracy is dependent on MIDAS data quality and may be affected by errors at source such as data entry, coding and scanning inaccuracies.

  5. NHS board is based on the dental practice postcode.

  Table 2. Number of Patients who had a Tooth Extraction Procedure Carried out in the Hospital Dental Service Setting in 2008-09

  

 NHS Board
Patient Age


0 - 4 years
5 - 18 years
Over 18


Scotland
1,876
6,134
4,663


Ayrshire and Arran
221
544
118


Borders
30
173
148


Dumfries and Galloway
41
257
789


Fife
9
107
667


Forth Valley
24
150
374


Grampian
33
346
603


Greater Glasgow and Clyde
490
1,396
620


Highland
114
525
372


Lanarkshire
345
838
186


Lothian
366
1,022
202


Orkney
3
39
54


Shetland
7
41
89


Tayside
183
661
378


Western Isles
3
14
25



  Source: SMR01.

  Notes:

  1. These statistics are derived from data collected on discharges from non-obstetric and non-psychiatric specialties (SMR01) in Scotland.

  2. For Hospital Dental Services, tooth extraction is defined as OPCS4: F09 (surgical removal of tooth) or F10 (simple extraction of tooth). SMR01 can capture up to four operations in each discharge summary; data in the table are based on the presence of a relevant OPCS4 code in the discharge summary, regardless of primary/secondary operation.

  3. These statistics are a count of patients undergoing a tooth extraction procedure, not a count of teeth extracted.

  4. NHS board is based on the patient’s postcode.

Dentistry

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) women and (b) men aged (i) 16 to 34, (ii) 35 to 54 and (iii) 55 and over are estimated to have no natural teeth.

Shona Robison: The answer is provided in the following table:

  Table 1. Percentages of (a) women and (b) men aged (i) 16 to 34, (ii) 35 to 54 and (iii) 55 and over are estimated to have no natural teeth:

  

 
Percentage


Age Group
Women
Men


16-34
0.5
0.3


35-54
3.5
2.8


55+
34.0
24.4



  Source: Scottish Health Survey 2008.

Diabetes

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients aged (a) under 18, (b) 18 to 30, (c) 31 to 45 and (d) over 45 in Lanarkshire receive insulin pump therapy.

Shona Robison: The information requested, which relates to February 2010, is included in the following table.

  Number of Patients Receiving Insulin Pump Therapy in NHS Lanarkshire:

  

Age Range
Number of Patients


Under 18
1


18 to 30
4


31-45
16


45+
19



  Source: Diabetes Managed Clinical Network, NHS Lanarkshire.

Diabetes

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each NHS board spent on insulin pump therapy in each of the last three years.

Shona Robison: The information requested is not held centrally.

  At our request, each NHS board has provided details of its planned investment in insulin pump therapy, and the associated structured education, over the next three years.

Diabetes

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of patients with type 1 diabetes receives insulin pump therapy, broken down by NHS board.

Shona Robison: The most recent information on the percentage of people with type 1 diabetes on insulin pump therapy, broken down by NHS board, was provided in the answer to question S3W-25079 on 15 July 2009. The 2009 Diabetes Survey, due to be published at the end of March this year, will, for the first time, contain information by NHS board on insulin pump provision.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Fertility Services

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards that raised the upper age limit for infertility treatment to up to and including people who are 39 years old.

Shona Robison: The following NHS boards are compliant with national criteria that the upper age limit for Level III Assisted Conception Treatment should be 39 years inclusive.

  NHS Ayrshire and Arran

  NHS Borders

  NHS Dumfries and Galloway

  NHS Forth Valley

  NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

  NHS Grampian

  NHS Highland

  NHS Lanarkshire

  NHS Orkney

  NHS Shetland

  NHS Tayside

  NHS Western Isles

  NHS Fife and NHS Lothian have yet to raise the age limit to meet this criteria.

Fertility Services

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30932 by Shona Robison on 1 February 2010, whether it is yet in a position to announce the chair and membership of the expert group examining infertility services.

Shona Robison: We have recently identified a chair for the new National Group on Infertility. Final membership of the group will be agreed with the chair, and we will shortly announce details publicly.

  The first meeting will take place in April.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) men and (b) women in each NHS board area have received the Life Begins health check on reaching the age of 40, as proposed in the SNP manifesto.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is currently developing proposals for a programme of health checks for people when they reach 40 in association with NHS 24. We will make an announcement shortly.

Healthcare Associated Infection

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-29774 by Nicola Sturgeon on 13 January 2010, whether the short-life working group on the HAI Reporting Template (HAIRT) led by NHS Scotland has reported; how the HAIRT will change, and when this will be introduced.

Nicola Sturgeon: The short-life working group has not yet reported. The revised template is, however, broadly complete and the short-life working group will shortly be consulting infection control experts and Patient Focus Public Involvement groups. The purpose of this consultation process is to ensure that the revised HAIRT is suitable for all NHS boards and is structured in a way which can be understood by the general public. It would not be appropriate for me to advise on the content of the revised HAIRT until this important consultation process is complete. The timing for rolling-out the revised template to NHS boards remains as set out in my answer to S3W-29774.

Higher Education

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the revised answer to question S3W-30785 by Michael Russell on 24 February 2010, whether it wishes to revise its answer to question S3W-30786 on the future of the Jordanhill campus.

Michael Russell: No.

Influenza

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-29949 by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 January 2010, whether the influenza A (H1N1) vaccination programme has now been offered to all children aged over six months and under six years.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS health boards have indicated that all children aged over six months and under five years have now been offered vaccination against influenza A (H1N1). Health boards have been encouraged to continue to vaccinate any eligible children who come forward for vaccination until 31 March 2010.

Older People

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce a universal shingles vaccination programme for people aged between 70 and 79 years, as recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, and, if so, when.

Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-31360 on 9 February 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .

Social Care

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been carried out on the impact on users and carers of tendering and retendering adult social care services.

Shona Robison: Scottish Government has engaged in a programme of research activity throughout 2009 to inform the development of draft guidance on social care procurement. This involved national surveys of local authorities and service providers; meetings with local authorities, service providers, service users and carers and regulatory bodies, and consultation with members of a reference group of interested parties. Reports of this activity are available on the Joint Improvement Team website:

  http://www.jitscotland.org.uk/action-areas/commissioning/procurement/.

Social Care

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the revised guidance on adult social care procurement will make it clear that retendering is not obligatory if existing services are of good quality and highly rated by users.

Shona Robison: The draft guidance on social care procurement states that a commissioning organisation should take account of feedback from service users and other information about the quality of an existing service when deciding if that service should be maintained.

  If the commissioning organisation decides that a service should be maintained, it must then determine whether the existing contract provides an option to extend the contract. If there is no extension option, the commissioning organisation must determine if it is required under procurement legislation to re-tender the service.

  The draft guidance confirms that social care services are subject to regulation 8(21) of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 under which a local authority "must, if required by its general community obligations, for the benefit of any potential economic operator, ensure a degree of advertising and follow a procedure leading to the award of the contract which is sufficient to enable open competition and meet the requirements of the principles of equal treatment, non-discrimination and transparency". The continuation of an existing services that does not take place in accordance with an extension option may risk breaching regulation 8(21). Any decision to extend an existing contract in these circumstances should be taken after careful consideration of the treaty principles and the associated risk of challenge.

  The draft guidance can be accessed on the Scottish Government’s website:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/01/13125045/0.

Social Care

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Argyll and Bute Council regarding the council’s proposal to apply eligibility criteria retrospectively in removing funding for social work services supporting individuals with complex but low levels of need.

Shona Robison: No such discussion has taken place with Argyll and Bute Council.

  All Scottish local authorities agreed to apply National Eligibility Criteria and Waiting Times for the Personal and Nursing Care of Older People as set out in the guidance issued jointly with COSLA on 28 September 2009.

  The guidance on National Eligibility Criteria and Waiting Times for the Personal and Nursing Care of Older People delivers on the recommendation arising from Lord Sutherland’s Review of Free Personal and Nursing Care for older people. If a local authority chooses to apply the eligibility criteria framework set out within the guidance to all community care groups, that is a matter solely for that council and is not tied to the agreement between the Scottish Government and council leaders on free personal and nursing care.

  Councils have been given no encouragement from the Scottish Government to apply the eligibility criteria framework to other community care groups.

Social Care

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has prepared for local authorities on the application of eligibility criteria that may lead to a reduction in services without first assessing individual needs.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government issued guidance to local authorities on National Eligibility Criteria and Waiting Times for the Personal and Nursing Care of Older People on 28 September 2009.

  This guidance delivers on the recommendation arising from Lord Sutherland’s Review of Free Personal and Nursing Care for older people. If a local authority chooses to apply the eligibility criteria framework set out within the guidance to all community care groups, that is a matter solely for that council and is not tied to the agreement between the Scottish Government and council leaders on free personal and nursing care. Councils have been given no encouragement from the Scottish Government to apply the eligibility criteria framework to other community care groups.

  The guidance makes it clear that if someone appears to be in need of community care services they should receive a care needs assessment. Local authorities are encouraged to set a low threshold for access to a care needs assessment.

Social Care

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on Argyll and Bute Council’s undertaking an equality impact assessment of the council’s proposal to remove local area co-ordinators after the decision to recommend removal has been made.

Shona Robison: I understand that a full equality impact assessment was completed by Argyll and Bute prior to the council meeting on 11 February where the decision to the phased removal of the local area co-ordinators (LAC) posts was agreed.

Sport

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the importance of the Midlothian Snowsports Centre at Hillend as a training facility for competitive skiers in Scotland.

Shona Robison: The Midlothian Snowsports Centre at Hillend, which is owned and operated by Midlothian Council, is regarded by the Scottish Government as important to the future development of snowsports in Scotland. Sportscotland is working with Midlothian Council to examine options to ensure that the centre has an economically sustainable future.

Swimming Pools

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place between ministers and elected members in South Ayrshire regarding the closure of Girvan swimming pool.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has not been involved in discussions with South Ayrshire in connection with the closure of Girvan Swimming pool as we believe that Local Authorities are best placed to address and meet local needs and priorities and the future of Girvan Swimming Pool is a matter for South Ayrshire Council.

  As part of its strategic relationship with local authorities, sportscotland meets regularly with council officials to support them in the development of strategic plans for sport in their local area.

Swimming Pools

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place between ministers and elected members in South Ayrshire regarding the decision by South Ayrshire Council not to hand over ownership of Girvan swimming pool to the local community.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has not been in discussion with South Ayrshire Council regarding the decision not to hand over ownership of Girvan swimming pool to the local community as we believe that local authorities are best placed to address and meet local needs and priorities and this is a matter for South Ayrshire Council.

  As part of its strategic relationship with local authorities, sportscotland meets regularly with council officials to support them in the development of strategic plans for sport in their local area.